Brockton man dies at Milton selectmen's meeting

Vincent Tempesta, 64, a manager for Milton Cab, was waiting to speak on a cab fare increase when he was stricken

Neal Simpson The Patriot Ledger @nsimpson_ledger

MILTON – Services will be held Monday for a longtime taxi company manager who collapsed, and was later pronounced dead, as he was waiting to give a presentation to Milton’s board of selectmen on Tuesday.Selectman Denis Keohane said Vincent Tempesta, 64, was sitting in the back of the meeting room waiting for his turn to discuss a taxi fare increase proposal when he slumped over against a man sitting next to him. He said Police Chief Richard Wells, who was also there to give a presentation, immediately cleared the standing-room only audience from the room and began performing CPR on Tempesta until fire department personnel arrived with a defibrillator.

Keohane said Tempesta was carried out on a stretcher and taken to Milton Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, apparently of a heart attack. “By all accounts, he had passed away right there,” Keohane said.

Tempesta, a Navy veteran and longtime Brockton resident who went by “Vinny,” had worked in the taxi industry on the South Shore for decades, most recently for Abby Naanaa, the owner of Milton Cab, Quincy Cab, Marina Bay Taxi and other services. He was married with two adult children and five grandchildren, according to his obituary, and was well liked among his colleagues.

“Everybody is very sad here,” said Naanaa, who hired Tempesta about 13 years ago.

Naanaa said Tempesta had been on sick leave with a slow-healing broken arm since before Christmas but had decided that Tuesday’s meeting, which was related to a fare-increase proposal, was too important to miss. Naanaa said he had kept Tempesta’s position unfilled during his absence in the hope that he would be able to return.

“The job was still just waiting here for him to come back,” he said.

A funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Mary Church, Randolph. Visiting hours at Cartwright Funeral Home, 419 N. Main St., Randolph, will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Contact Neal Simpson at nesimpson@ledger.com or follow him on Twitter @NSimpson_Ledger.

READ MORE about this issue.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.